A Great Big World: Why Working With Christina Aguilera was “Really Difficult”

What a difference a year has made for up and comers A Great Big World. They started by raising money for their album on Kickstarter and have since been picked up by Epic Records. The impetus was television, with one of their songs being chosen to be featured on Glee while another was picked for So You Think You Can Dance. But what really blew members Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino’s minds was when The Voice coach Christina Aguilera called them up and said she wanted to collaborate on the majorly emotional song “Say Something”.

The duo sat down with Entertainment Weekly recently to discuss their stars on the rise, and dished on what it was like to get the word that Xtina wanted to team up on the song. Turns out the collaboration wasn’t easy — but not for any diva antics you might be imagining.

“I feel like we were both in disbelief. She’s an iconic voice and I immediately felt so small [like] ‘I can’t do this thing with her, I’m not on her level,’ and I started doubting myself,” Ian said. “Of course, we said yes though. We got an email from her saying that she didn’t want to take over the song and she wanted to let it be.”

Chad was a bit intimidated, though, saying, “Being in the studio with her was really, really difficult because she would sing something and ask our opinion of it and it’s like, what are we supposed to say to that? It was perfect! We had to believe in ourselves enough to trust that we had something just as valuable as she did.”

The collaboration has paid off tenfold for the musicians, as the song still sits at an impressive #4 on the iTunes chart, weeks after it first made its mark.

As for whether they were left with any nuggets of wisdom about the music industry from Christina, the two said she was surprisingly helpful.

“She’s super on her game when she works and she doesn’t overthink things. She’s all about letting things happen naturally and not getting in your head about things,” Ian said.

Chad told EW that the “Genie In A Bottle” singer imparted to them the importance of keeping work and personal lives separate, even asking the musicians over to play paintball after the AMAs!

In the past, Christina has talked about how much the song moved her, and how it came to her at the perfect time in her life and career.

“It came to me at a time when I’m feeling very inspired,” she said during an interview featured on YouTube. “It’s so simple and it’s so quiet and still and steady and, in a way, pleading to hear something...to hear some kind of answer or get an answer in the most humble, unassuming, non-demanding way.”